A Romanian horror: ”The Visitor”, by Jamil Hendi

by Dana Medar

During the last years, several thriller or dark short movies were produced, triggering the setting up of related Festivals for the genre – Full Moon in Biertan and Dracula Film in Braşov.
Director Jamil Hendi took upon himself the risk to take the first step and is going to make his debut in the feature film business with a horror, The Visitor– an independent production. The story has all the prerequisites of the genre.
Luca (Ionuţ Grama) and Otilia (Oana-Irina Duţu) move fromthe countrysideinto the big city of Bucharest, with the help of Vlad (Oleg Apostol), their childhood friend. They become renters in an old building with only one more tenant, an old man, Felix (Ion Haiduc). Their flat has a chilling history: its former renter, Irina (Andreea Boşneag), disappeared mysteriously and without a trace 6 months ago.
We went to the filming location in an old mansion with narrow stairs – a true test for Alex Popescu, director of photography.
Jamil Hendi has had a lasting passion for thriller and horror movies (his first attemptbeing Friday Night, screened at the Dracula Film 2014), so he managed to convince producer Daniel Heppand, executive producer Tudor Dumitrescu, with AJJA Film to become part of this project.The Visitor was shot within 15 days and had a low budget, so special effects were not an option.The dramatic atmosphere was dealt with by means of the actors' craft, the shooting style, the settings and make-up.